"To what, sir?" I asked.
"To this, Miss Leighton!" replied my lady, speaking suddenly and sharply. Lucy she is like the wolf woman as one pea is like another—"Your father has received an offer for you from worthy gentleman far beyond your desert or degree."
"Not so, and it please you madam!" said my lord, making another bow; "Nothing can be above Miss Leighton's deserts. Say from the humblest of her slaves, who has never before seen a lady so worthy of his devotion, and whose whole life shall be one study to promote her happiness."
My lady smiled strangely, while her eyes shot fire in their curious fashion.
"You plead your cause so well, my lord, that I might spare my pains. In one word, Amabel, my Lord Bulmer has made proposals for your hand, and it is your father's will and wish—"
"And yours also, I trust, madam!" interrupted my lord, in a tone of deferential anxiety. "I can ill want the good wishes of so old a friend!"
"And my own of course," said my lady, biting her red lip and frowning—"that you should accept his proposals, and as the times are something disturbed and your father may be called away, we intend that the marriage should take place immediately. You may now withdraw."
"Stay a moment, my lady!" said Lord Bulmer. "Let me have the pleasure of learning from my birdie's own sweet mouth that I am accepted."
"You hear what my lord says!" said my lady, and again it seemed as though she spoke by constraint. "What have you to answer?"
"Only this, madam!" I answered, being now constrained to speak. "I have already told my father that I will not marry without his consent, at least until I am of age. But I have already given my affection to a worthy man with his full concurrence, and I will never wed another. In any other matter, I am ready to yield to my father's wishes. In this I cannot do so. It is simply impossible."